I went to Leong's Legends last night on Macclesfield Street - is this the one that was recommended in the thread? Ordered the wind dried turnip, which was delicious, but also the "casket" from the dimsum menu, which sounded interesting but didn't do it for me, plus some tofu and aubergine.

Mainly though, they forgot to make our loving seafood dumplings and service was terrible. In retrospect, I could have ordered better but ugh

Failure! I might console myself with a visit to Dirty Burger at lunch.

Oh man, we went to Leong's Legend (not Continued or the Inn) and it was awesome. Got the stir-fried glass noodles with vegetables, oyster omlette, bok choy with ginger, and pork belly with rice. The pork belly was ridiculous, it was so tender and amazingly delicious, highly recommend getting that. Service wasn't too bad either, and the entire meal ended up being like £10 or £12 for each, split 3 ways.

On the other hand, the gf and I went to Hawksmoor in Spitalfield this evening and I wasn't terribly impressed with the burger. Chips were good, but expensive for the portion. Maybe I'm spoiled by American hamburger abundance? I saw there's a Byron's near Liverpool station too, want to try that.

I'm working myself up to trying MeatMission, it looks like it had the potential to kill me.

"The entire history of this incarnation is one of temporal orbits, retcons, paradoxes, parallel time lines, reiterations, and divergences. How anyone can make head or tail of all this chaos, I don't know."

Burger & Shake at Russell Square. Been there twice now, so freakin' good.

I didn't get to go before leaving for Christmas. I did however get to try my first Byrons. It was nice but I wasn't overly impressed. The burger patty didn't have enough texture for me. I like my burgers thick and meaty and sweating juices, while theirs was more like a posh version of a kebab shop burger, flat and lifeless even though the taste was great. My medium also came up medium rare but I vary between the two anyway so it was fine.

How are the burger and shake pattys? Are they Byron style or meatier?

Byrons was great for the price though. Not that much more than a McDonald's or Burger King, so even though i expected more I'm sure ill be back.

Hey guys, I'm taking a girl out to eat somewhere in London next week. I want to find somewhere that isn't too expensive for a student like me, but doesn't make me look like a cheapskate. I know that she likes Italian if that helps!

I've mentioned a fab Italian near Paddington before in this thread if you look at my past posts. Very reasonably priced and their pastas are on a par with my Italian grandmother's, which is my measure of brilliance. The pizzas are pretty mediocre, however. It has a fairly nice, bustling (but not rushed), family-owned feel if you're into that kind of thing.

Anyone been to flat iron's new permanent restaurant over in soho yet? Been getting all the spam messages from them since they opened their permanent home (was a popup in the owl and pussycat in shoreditch beforehand)

I'm making my first trip to London at the end of February. My friends (a married couple and their 20-month-old) are living over there for a couple years as required by her employer.

They've been given a corporate flat in Richmond, of all places (not far from the American university). From what I've heard about the place, it's rather affluent and therefore not necessarily the type of place us 20-30-something goon types care to spend our free time. I searched the thread for "Richmond" and did not find any mention of it, if that's any indication.

They've been there for about five weeks now and have done their share of exploration, but I'd like to hear any suggestions on decent places to eat that won't break the bank, either in Richmond or nearby.

Hey guys, I'm taking a girl out to eat somewhere in London next week. I want to find somewhere that isn't too expensive for a student like me, but doesn't make me look like a cheapskate. I know that she likes Italian if that helps!

"The entire history of this incarnation is one of temporal orbits, retcons, paradoxes, parallel time lines, reiterations, and divergences. How anyone can make head or tail of all this chaos, I don't know."

I feel like we should make an OP with "Coming to London? We recommend these places: Hawksmoor, etc" at this point.

They've been there for about five weeks now and have done their share of exploration, but I'd like to hear any suggestions on decent places to eat that won't break the bank, either in Richmond or nearby.

Chiswick and Ealing arn't far away, short tube or bus ride and have plenty of great places Charlottes Bistro/Place, La Trompette (1*), Franco Manca, Kerbisher and Malt and Santa Maria are all great. If you want a curry a bus to Hounslow or a short drive to Southall are the best places to go; Hounslow Lahori Karahi, The Roxy (New Asian Tandoori Centre), Delhiwala and the Mirch Masala. The Brilliant and Memories of India are slightly more upmarket though still good value. The other way toward Twickenham and Kingston Arthurs is good fun (in an old public toilet on Twickenham Green) and The Glasshouse in Kew (1*). The Idle Hour and the Brown Dog in Barnes are good.

Plenty of chains, loads of pubs and a lot of places that are ok to eat at, but hardly worth recommending.

"The entire history of this incarnation is one of temporal orbits, retcons, paradoxes, parallel time lines, reiterations, and divergences. How anyone can make head or tail of all this chaos, I don't know."

I feel like we should make an OP with "Coming to London? We recommend these places: Hawksmoor, etc" at this point.

I'd like this, thought I think maybe aim it as places in the UK (main cities), but focusing on London. People do sometimes venture out of the capital and I can recommend some great places in the Midlands.

I got a lot of love for the Liberty of Norton Folgate, tucked into the side of Broadgate tower. Whether its the delicious coffee, really friendly staff who remember a name and a face in a day, huge almond crossaints or the nice furniture and neat light fixture (of what I remember its the chemical formula for caffeine)

(or perhaps that its the place where I interviewed for my current job -and became the regular coffee spot for my first couple months there),

I got feels for the place. Closed at the weekends for all of January though, odd.

Also good to see some love for coffee circus -at my old job our office was based just off Camden market, the stream of young, talented baristas that passed through coffee circus' Camden market stands giving us £1 americanos (some of the best I've ever had, no less) and £1.30 cappucinos (let alone in the dead winter months) brought a welcome shot of energy and a bit of fun to the morning

Let me fall out the window
With confetti in my hair
Deal out jacks or better
On a blanket by the stairs
I'll tell you all my secrets
But I lie about my past

There's a really nice one next to my workplace called The Association (Creechurch Lane, EC3). Lovely interior, great coffee and all but way overpriced. I do end up going there every now and then but can't justify £2.40 for an Americano every day.

I actually really quite enjoy Pret's £1 black filter coffees, and think Pret are a lot better than any of the actual coffee chains out there.

Oh and no Monmouth mention yet? Their own actual coffee places are really good. But so many places now serve Monmouth coffee but they're very hit and miss.

This is really random but I found a loving excellent Lebanese place the other day up my neck of the woods.

BM Lebanese up in Northwood Hills. Excellent food, perfectly seasoned everything and the owner (Basil) is friendly and helpful. If you happen to be in the area, definitely give it a shot: http://bmlebanese.co.uk

I feel like we should make an OP with "Coming to London? We recommend these places: Hawksmoor, etc" at this point.

I used all the recommendations in this thread to make a custom map for myself before our trip, maybe it would be useful to create a public Google Map that people can access? I found it really helpful to be able to have my phone zero in on where I was and then see what was within easy walking distance of my current location. My map only covers parts of the city where I planned to go, so I don't think it would be as good a resource, but if someone wanted to put the effort into a citywide map...

On the subject of coming to London, me and my girlfriend are planning to come down to see Matilda at the Cambridge Theatre in March. Anyone have any favourites for a pre-theatre dinner, preferably around £20-30 per head, around Seven Dials/Covent Garden?

Maaaaaan, as a resigned caffeine addict, I love the coffee/brunch recommendations list, I've been living in London for ages and it's awful when you want to meet someone for non-alcoholic drink and half the time you end up stuck in some random goddamn Cafe Nero unless you're on Exmouth Market or something.

A public google map might be a brilliant idea too! I'll look into that (right after I finish moving house this weekend argh)

On the subject of coming to London, me and my girlfriend are planning to come down to see Matilda at the Cambridge Theatre in March. Anyone have any favourites for a pre-theatre dinner, preferably around £20-30 per head, around Seven Dials/Covent Garden?

If you book and get there early enough to order before 6 you could get a set menu at The Ivy, which would be pretty cool.

On the subject of coming to London, me and my girlfriend are planning to come down to see Matilda at the Cambridge Theatre in March. Anyone have any favourites for a pre-theatre dinner, preferably around £20-30 per head, around Seven Dials/Covent Garden?

If anyone thinks I've missed something, something doesn't belong or fancies helping me sort them by price (was thinking I could make the ultra cheap places a different colour to the ultra expensive ones.. some other day) let me know. I'll stick it in the OP once a few people have given me a thumbs up!

If anyone thinks I've missed something, something doesn't belong or fancies helping me sort them by price (was thinking I could make the ultra cheap places a different colour to the ultra expensive ones.. some other day) let me know. I'll stick it in the OP once a few people have given me a thumbs up!

That's really great, thanks. Has Asukusa by Mornington Crescent not been recommended anywhere? It certainly deserves to be on there.

I decided to get back on the train and went to Koya. Luckily got seated with less than 10 minutes wait. Really good stuff. It was my first time eating udon and I wasn't quite sure....how. I managed anyways, delicious.